This week has been busy; one of my closest friends got engaged, as well as had a birthday, Scott and I celebrated 15 years of marriage, my son had a complete meltdown about middle school and my agent asked me to revise a not-dead-yet manuscript.
Whew!
So I have been hunkering down and trying to Get It All Done, which means I have been going without as much leisure time reading, watching British dramas and sleeping (hate that one!).
There are some things, however, without which I will not do:
–Coffee (the picture of me is when I am pointing to where there is no coffee at a conference a few years ago. My expression says it all).
–Playing Scramble 2 on my iPhone. I like playing until I place in the top 3, which doesn’t take long on off hours. During peak times, it never happens–I’m just not good enough.
–Twitter. I love interacting with friends there, and I usually get book recommendations, too.
–Exercising. I’m trying to work out five times a week (the summer was unusually weighty for me, and I am too cheap to buy new clothing).
–Fun errands–yes, they exist. A couple of days ago, I took my bike to Sunset Park, the Chinese section of Brooklyn, where I bought a ginormous container of soy sauce for less than $4. And more sambal oelek, a necessity for our spicy-loving house. Then yesterday I headed the opposite direction to an artisanal cheese shop, where I got three different types of nifty cheese to pair with Pinot Noir or Syrah. Fun errands do tend to be food-related.
So if you had to pare everything down to the necessities, what would be the necessary frivolities you’d keep in your schedule?
Hmm, let’s see.
Reading, both blogs and books. I get cranky if I can’t get that little bit of downtime.
Diet Coke. I’m trying to give it up. I just can’t.
Alone time to run errands. It’s so nice to go to a store without having to load and unload kids and rush through the store to get things before they get bored and start complaining.
I think that’s enough, although I could probably list more. Basically I need time to unwind or I get very difficult to be around. My husband is more than glad to let me get the time I need.
What can’t I do without? Email and blogs. Haven’t quite mastered Twitter. But I must keep in touch with my friends.
Jessica, I did give up Diet Coke, although I always order it when I eat out. It is my guilty pleasure.
Alone, quiet time….
I recently gave up diet Coke, too, Diane, tho I do relent on particularly sleep-deprived days.
And yes, alone time. I am getting some tonight, the Spouse is out and my son will likely be exhausted from a hard week of 6th grade. Yay!
I’ve become hopelessly addicted to Twitter! When I’m feeling alone in the middle of the day and need a writing break, I just jump over to see what everyone else is doing and it’s like a party all the time 🙂
And then there’s tea. But that’s not a frivolity. That’s a necessity. And trips to Target. That too.
Are books and reading frivolities?
Cause those stay–and have stayed–through thin and thinner 😀
Books of course. I get twitchy if I don’t have something to read, no matter where I am. I have really gotten overly attached to blogs. As a result not much else is happening, I mean getting done. We are working on our house and I am sorting through 4 households’ worth of stuff which has ended up in our house.
I second Jessica’s “alone time to run errands.” Since I lost my job in February, I have pretty much been stuck at the house. I am not a big shopper, but it is nice to be out and just browse. My husband usually will cooperate, but not without a lot of groaning and sighing to make sure I know what a pain it is. He runs his errands on his way to and from work. He usually sits in the car and takes a nap.
I have lots of alone time. My husband gets up for work at 4:30 AM and I am a night owl. He is usually in bed by 9 . He has been know to come out at 1 or 2 to ask me why I am still on the computer.
Ooh, trips to Target, Amanda. Yup. Even if it’s for kitty litter.
And since we just majorly downsized, from 8 rooms to 3 and I kept my extensive Nightmare Before Christmas collection, I’d have to say my toys are pretty important to me.